US-based open networking technology developer SnapRoute closed a $25m series A round on Tuesday that featured telecom conglomerate AT&T and Microsoft Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of software provider Microsoft.
Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), which invests as financial services firm Wells Fargo’s venture capital affiliate, led the round. Lightspeed Venture Partners, the VC firm that led SnapRoute’s $4.5m seed round, also participated.
Founded in 2015 by engineers from computing company Apple, SnapRoute develops open-source networking software that can run on generic switches and routers, which are typically more affordable than the hardware provided by incumbent networking equipment makers.
FlexSwitch, SnapRoute’s core product, is a modular, fully programmable network stack – a set of computing rules or protocols that SnapRoute says offers network operators more control, flexibility and visibility in building data centres.
SnapRoute will use the series A capital to speed up software development and grow its business among Fortune 500 companies. NVP partner Rama Sekhar has joined the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round.
Nagraj Kashyap, corporate vice-president of Microsoft Ventures, said: “SnapRoute is filling a gap in how network engineers work today by offering a highly scalable open networking stack, enabling engineers to work more efficiently and reduce enterprise costs.”
“This smart offering, paired with a strong technical team, sets SnapRoute up for continued market traction.”